Fifth-wheel for vehicles.



W. 0. SHADBOLT. FIFTH WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

Patend 0st. 5,

APPLICATION FILED MAYZ i914.

W'1LLIAM OSCAR SHADBOLT, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

STATE@ FIFTH-WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

originar a'ppucaaon inea september 1s, 1913, seriai 10.790,497.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented @et 5, 1915.

Divided and this application led May 27,

1914. Serial No. 841,281.

yTo @ZZ whom t may concern:

of annular Be ity known that l, VILLIAM OSCAR SHAD- Bon'r, a citizen of the United States,- and a resident of the city and State of New York, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Fifth-Vheels for Vehicles, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to that class of devices known as' ifth wheels, which are commonly employed for pivotally connecting the front axles of vehicles to the reach or to the body of the vehicle, and which may also be employed for the purpose of providing a pivotal connection between a tractor and a truck body or the like, this application being a divisionof application No. 790,497, filed September 18, 1913.

rThe object of my invention is to provide a fifth wheel. which shall obviate certainof the disadvantages of such devices previously known and `which shall possess certainradvantages over prior devices, as hereinafter set forth.

The invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of 'various devices, elements, and parts as shown v1n the accompanying drawings and herelnafter more particularly described.

1n the said drawings, Figure 1, is a plan view of my invention; Fig. 2 is a side or end view thereof; Fig. 3 is a .plan view of a modification of my invention; and Fig. 4 is a side or end view of thesame.

In carrying my invention into effect, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, l provide a fifth wheel comprising an upper member 11 and a l^wer member 15, both preferably in, pivotally connected together by a king-bolt 1G, which may be provided with a nut 13. The upper member 14 is provided with a diametrically extending member 17, rigidly secured to the upper side thereof, the ends of which project beyond the periphery of the said member 14: and are journaled in sockets 18 in bars 19 secured t0 the under side of the body of a wagon or truck or the like. rl`he lower annular member 15 is provided with a diametrically eX- tending member 20, rigidly secured to the lower side thereof, the ends of which project beyond the periphery of the said annular member 15, and are journaled in sockets 22 in bars 21, 'which are suitably supported, 'Where the invention is used fer coupling a trucle-to a tractor or the like, on the frame of the said tractor.

lt will be observed that the diametrical members 17 and 2O are normally, that is to say, when the two coupled vehicles vare in straight alinement, at right angles to each other, but that the said diametrical members, as well as the annular members to which they are respectively secured, are

free to swing around on their pivotal con nection 1G in a manner which will be well understood.

ln the form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4, I provide a fiftiiivheel comprising two annular members analogous to the members 14 and 15 above described, here designated 3() and 31'. The upper member is provided with a diametrically extending member 32, analogous tothe member 17 of Figs. 1 and 2, the middle part of which, however, is split so as to assume an annular form as shown at 33 the ends of this member projecting beyond the periphery of the annular member 31, and being journaled in suitable sockets (not shown in the draw-v ing), analogous to the sockets 1S of Figs. 1 and 2. The lower member 31 is provided with a diametrically extending member 40, analogous to the member 20 of Figs. 1 and 2, the projecting ends of which are journaled in suitable sockets, (not shown in the drawing) analogous to the sockets 22 of Figs. 1 and 2, said sockets being suitably secured to the frame of the tractor.

From the portion of the diametrically eX- tending member which is inside of the annular member 31 extends upward a conical member 43, which is in part analogous to the king-bolt in the ordinary form of fifth wheeln This conical member is adapted when the two annular members are assembled to project up through the opening in the annular portion 33 of the diametrically extending member 32, and the said conical member 43 is provided with a transverse opening le above the pla-ne of the upper surface of the'annular portion 33 of the member 32, whichopening is adapted to receive a pin or bolt serving to prevent the separation of the two annular members under. strain.

.i may mention briey that the tw@ vimportant advantages are: the freedom of movement of the planes of the tractor and truck with respect to each other, it being possible for said planes to assume various angular relations u n respect to each other While still remaining pivotally coupled together; and the advantage of ease in coupling together a tractor and truck, when the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is.used. When an ordinary form of fifth wheel, comprising a king-bolt of the usualltype is employed as a means of coupling a tractor and truck together, it is obvious that the tractor and the truck must be brought so accurately into correct relation that the opening in the upper member of the fifth wheel, on the truck, shall be exactly in register with the opening in the lower member, on the tractor, before the king-bolt can drop into its opening in the lower member. In using a fifth wheel provided with a conical member, as described in this specification, it is not necessary to bring the parts into such exact relations, for it is obvious that if any part of the comparatively large opening in the up* per member is brought into position over the projecting member and the truck body allowed to descend, the parts will automatically place themselves in the proper position. If then a pin or bolt is placed in the transverse opening in the projecting member the twoannular members of the fifth wheel are held securely together.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A fifth wheel adapted to connect the forward end of a vehicle to a tractor or the like, comprising an upper and a lower member of annular form and means adapted to pivotally connect the said two members together; the said upper member being provided with projections extending beyond the periphery of said upper member and adapted to be journaled in bearings secured to the under side of the forward portion of a vehicle, and said lower member being provided with projections extending beyond the pe- -in devices secured to the said tractor, the

axis of the lateral projections on one of said annular members being so located as to be in a line substantially at right angles to the axis of the lateralV projections on the other of said annular members when'tlie vehicle and the tractor are substantially in alinement.

2. A fifth wheel comprising an upper member having lateral projections journaled under the frame of a vehicle, a lower member having lateral projections journaled over devices located below the vehicle, a projecting member on said lower member, and a socket member on said upper member, said socket member being provided with an opening substantially larger than the upper portion of said projecting member.

3. A fifth wheel comprising an upper member having lateral projections journaled under the frame of a ,vehicle and a lower member having lateral projections journaled over devices located below the vehicle, one of said members being provided with a projecting member of conical form, and the other of said members being provided with a socket substantially larger than the apex of said conical projecting member.

4:. A fifth wheel comprising an upper member having lateral projections journaled under the framek of a vehicle, and a lower member having lateral projections journaled over devices located below thevehicle, one of said members being provided with a projecting member of a form decreasing from its base outward, and the other of said members provided with a socket substantially larger than the smaller` portion of said projecting member.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 23d day of May 1914, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM OSCAR SHADBOLT.

Witnesses:

EDMoND CONGAR BROWN, EDMoND LIVINGsToNE BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 1f-Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

